WoW guide to WAR pt. 2
by Michael Zenke 
Sep 9th 2008 at 9:00AM
Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Guides, New titles, Warhammer Online
As a WoW player, you might initially find the number of classes in Warhammer overwhelming. Counting the Death Knight, there are ten classes available in World of Warcraft. There are exactly twice that many in Warhammer, and which race you pick dictates which classes you'll have available. Massively has been putting out a series of guides to help new players understand their options, and they tie into the faction/role combinations of each class. Essentially, you can think of each class as filling one of four roles: healer, tank, melee dps, and ranged dps.
While many classes are going to feel fairly familiar, healers are a very different animal in WAR than in WoW. In Warhammer, almost every healing class is more like the Druid or the Shaman: a hybrid that does a 'little bit extra' on top of the pure healing experience. To get a good sense of which careers feel like Warcraft classes you may have already played, check out our 'translation' list below:
- Warrior: Ironbreaker, Black Orc, Swordmaster, Chosen
- Rogue: Witch Elf, Witch Hunter
- Mage: Bright Wizard, Sorceress
- Priest: Rune Priest, Zealot
- Druid: Marauder
- Hunter: Squig Herder, White Lion, Shadow Warrior
- Shaman: Goblin Shaman, High Elf Archmage
- Paladin: Warrior Priest, Disciple of Khaine
- Warlock: Dwarven Engineer, Chaos Magus
Combat and Character Advancement
Combat in Warhammer online is similar enough to World of Warcraft that you'll probably be able to jump right in and start swinging. The biggest difference you're likely to find with WAR combat is how much slower it is; abilities just take a bit longer to fire than many WoW players will be used to. This is primarily so that player vs. player fans can have time to react to incoming attacks, but the PVE experience is just as stately.
New abilities for your class will be made available at almost every level, and to gain them you'll have to go train with a Career Trainer. There's one at almost every hub in the game; just look for the 'arrow-in-a-bullseye' icon. There are many different ways to advance in Warhammer, including the Mastery Path system. It's available via your Career Trainer as well, and can be thought of as an analog to the talent points in World of Warcraft. Other advancement lines include Tome unlocks, Renown rewards, Tactics, and numerous others ... be sure to read the help tips as they pop up when you explore the world.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
danarchy said on 12:14PM 9-09-2008
"he biggest difference you're likely to find with WAR combat is how much slower it is; abilities just take a bit longer to fire than many WoW players will be used to"
To quote my friends son "...this totally screws twitch players!...."
Basically pvp is more thinking and less running in a circle jumping and spamming attack buttons as soon as they pop like some demented whack-a-mole game. You'll still see the button spammers in battlegrounds, their easy to recognize by their face in the dirt stance....hehe
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Zan said on 1:31PM 9-09-2008
I disagree. It is the slower combat that makes the game feel sluggish and ultimately not that fun to play.
I was in beta and it was one of the biggest reasons I did not get into combat. (Other reasons included, lack of class depth and diversity, even if they are packaged in a new candy wrapper.)
PVP is harder if it is faster paced, not easier. Try playing an FPS or something. Sure spamming buttons can make "twitch" playing more affective with a faster pace, but that does not mean that it will be more affective than a good player under the same combat time scale. Decisions have to be made at a much faster rate and the consequences of bad decisions come at you faster than they would otherwise.
In any case, in my play experience I have found the combat pace of WoW to be funner than the combat pace of WAR by noticeable margins, regardless of whether one finds the pace easier or harder.
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Ron said on 8:42PM 9-15-2008
Time will tell about how enjoyable PvP is to play. Slow vs fast doesn't necessarily determine it.
The fasted PvP I know of is in Age of Conan. It's so fast that pretty much whoever attacks first wins (healers sometimes beat this rule, but few others do). That wasn't enjoyable for me. You get either the empty adolescent satisfaction of being a ganker, or you get the far emptier satisfaction of being the ganked. In WoW, 90% of my time is in PvP. But sneaking up on someone and attacking them while they're already in combat? Pathetic. Straight up, mano a mano, baby. I want the baddies to see me and get a chance to get ready before I kill 'em ;-)
ScytheNoire said on 8:20PM 9-09-2008
I disagree with Zan. This isn't an FPS, although someone should tell Brent that. This is an MMORPG. RPG's have always been about strategy and thinking, not seeing how fast you can react. And WAR captures grand-scale combat much better than WoW does.
It may be a millisecond slower, but the difference is minor and the combat is much more strategic with the ability to collide with enemy players, which WoW is drastically missing and suffering for.
Marauder as a Druid?? Really? I didn't find that at all.
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Trebor said on 8:29PM 9-09-2008
What a thoughtful and fantastic writeup. However I have to disagree with the Engineer/Magus comparison to the Warlock. They really don't play anything like each other. Like the Druid, the Warlock player is going to have to find another playstyle in WAR, there just isn't an analogous class.
Conversely, the Engineer/Magus have no analog in WoW -- they aren't even that much like the DAoC Animist, to which I've seen them compared much more often than the Warlock.
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Disapointing said on 8:35PM 9-09-2008
Well there is really so much wrong with the game its hard to know where to start.
Played a Bright Wizard for about 16 hours to rank 12 and rr lvel 10.
At the end I almost threw my computer across the room. LESS DPS than a wow mage and MORE fragile. How fragile? Imagine doing half the PDS and having half the hit points.
I must have died at least 200 times. It is frustrating to play, you have to dart in near a PVP group, get a cast or 2 off, and run like a little girl, rinse and repeat.
The class just sucks.
Since that is the only class archetype I like to play, I won't be playing warhammer.
Other tidbits. Economy: open beta a week before release, 2 items in auction house. 2.
In order capital there are about 20 vendors, with nothing to vend, other vendors have things that can't be bought. Vendors have lists of items, all listed as slot 'pants', and none of them are pants.
I spend a couple of hours trying to find a talisman (gem) trainer, since items have taliman slots starting like lvl 6. No trainers, no talimans, and I hear you get them from quests 10 levels after you already threw out the gear that you wants them for. When you do get them they don't actually work, they won't slot into the places for them.
Want to link an item in chat, can't.
Whatever! Three plus years and its a pile of trash.
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lol said on 7:54AM 9-11-2008
sounds more like you need to l2play your class, wow you actually have to use strategy and kite? shock horror. Bright wizards rape face their DPS is hax. Go back to wow imo.
Willias said on 6:40AM 9-12-2008
Bright Wizards are one of the highest DPS classes in the game.
If you can't kill someone with decent enough speed, then that's your problem, not a problem with the class.
Their squishyness is a counter balance to massive ranged damage.
Ron said on 8:19PM 9-15-2008
You can't learn talisman in the open beta. This was mentioned everywhere they talked about crafting-skills.
Exactly how long DID you look, and it never occurred to you? Pretty embarrassing.
Honestly, I really hate when people say learn to play your class (because sometimes, the poster is airing a legitimate complaint). But here... you're being silly.
And more than that, coming right out and saying you're so 1-dimensional a person that there's only one class you want to play, any it's the WoW Mage, and if you don't get a class exactly like it... that's pretty feeble.
Eturyu said on 11:51PM 9-09-2008
I've played mutliple toons at this point (magus/Sorc/ Marauder/Shadow) gotten most upto lvl 12, and i have to see, this is going to pwn WoW (imo only)....I like the slightly slower PvP i agreed at 1st it wasn't that great, but after having played with mutlplie different toons types, i like it more then WoW PvP....i agree the slightly slower pace alows for more thinking and less spaming...i LOVE how we can enter BG from ANYWHERE and go right back to whatever quest we were doing....Also As far as half the vendors being crap, i agree, but to be blunt, ITS PRE RELEASE, they have specificly said they are NOT going to show us all the things yet...most...but not all, and vendors/ armor will be on of the things to change....Also i have had a lot of chats with people i know who were in the WoW Beta, and they advised that pre-release they crashed evry 5 min, 90% of their mobs would error, and the over "Feel" of the game now is very different from when it started....aparently f u compare WoW in beta, to War i beta...its clear War is better designed (probably because the could build on previous systems like wow) so all i say.....is those who dis WAR, wait for release give `em a month or two to work out the bugs / add more content then we'll chat again XD
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Ace said on 1:24PM 9-11-2008
I used to play a mage in World of Warcraft. I PvPed heavily, I got to LV70 and I did fairly well. I also raided. To be honest, by comparison, when you actually get to a higher level in Warhammer (around 20-25), combat is way, way, way faster than it is in WoW in terms of reaction time. There is so much going on and so much depth to what needs to be done...I just can't ever see myself going back. I frequently use seven to eight abilities in a fight now, moral when it's up. In WoW most of my PvE experience was 3-4 abilities and if I used them all I'd pull aggro and die. In this game I can pop a detaunt and take reduced damage while the tank regains aggro.
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James said on 3:35AM 9-16-2008
Marauder = Druid?
WTF?
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Victoria said on 4:43PM 10-15-2008
I think the goblin shaman is more like a druid. But thats just my opinion.
BTW for you WoW guys out there trying out pvp in WaR I have some advice: Go back to WoW. I already am hearing the whining and complaining that Allies are famous for.
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Vyktir said on 11:52PM 11-19-2008
I can sum it up easily for everyone...
PVP in WoW was something they seemed to add after the game was made. Then they realized how bad it sucked and heard all the QQ'n and decided to start "balancing" everything which just compounded the issue 10 fold. Too many I win buttons in WoW. Basically, play a druid or don't pvp. Actually, better yet, play a night elf druid or don't pvp.
In WAR the game was developed around the pvp (RVR) concept. They implemented it very well and have actually made it something more than just assigning every key to shadowbolt and rolling my face across the keyboard (thanks Lok).
Anyway, the kids won't like it because they hate the challenge of it but for the adults, we love it!
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